"...Brazilian Chamber of Deputies’ Constitution, Justice and
Citizenship Committee (CCJ) approved the Clean Bill made by the Senate to Chamber Bill 130 from 2009 (originally Bill No. 2,171, of 2003, authored by federal representative Rubens Otoni)The approved text deals with the application of tests and attribution of attendance to students who are unable to attend school for reasons of freedom of conscience and religious belief. The content will, therefore, be incorporated into legislation by inserting Article 7-A into the National Education Guidelines and Bases Law.
Federal representative Maria do Rosário, the rapporteur for the bill in the CCJ, emphasized the respect for freedom of religious expression. She recalled that the Federal Constitution, in its fifth article, guarantees that this type of freedom is inviolable and must be guaranteed. She added that "nobody will be deprived of rights because of religious belief or philosophical or political conviction.”
The director of Public Affairs for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South America, Helio Carnassale, pointed out that this was a major victory for religious freedom, especially in the case of thousands of students observing religious days.
The last survey carried out by the Ministry of Education indicated that Sabbath-keeping students, who took the National High School Examination, represented around 100,000 people in the country." ANN
And all the people said, Amen.... 1 Chronicles 16:36
